Heey Everyone,

5 weeks left and then..home sweet home! Time flies! I just came back from a weekend trip to Montreal (again). I went with 3 other Dutch girls. We had a lot of fun...we tried to hit the highlights of Montreal and did a bit of sightseeing. It was snowing there, but I've already heard that there is snow in the Netherlands too!

My last exam will be on the 19th and after that I will head to Washington D.C and New York. I'm really looking forward to that! This weekend I'll be celebrating 'Sinterklaas' with a couple of Dutch people haha! We didn't want to miss out on that one!

Well, I'll keep this message short cause I have class in half an hour and I'm busy studying at the moment for an exam tomorrow..so I'll keep u posted!

Hey Everyone,

So I just came back from Toronto & Niagara. Actually I arrived monday in the evening. It was really nice and fun. I went with two other dutch girls for 4 days. A short summary of what we did:

- Niagara Falls - which was really nice to see!
- Went to CN tower - very (very) high tower, but it has a nice view!
- Went to Chinatown - always nice to go to and everything is very cheap
- We also went to Little Italy
- We had dinner in a great Indian restaurant
- We took the ferry to Toronto Islands - beautiful skyline
- Dundas Square - 'little times square'
- Walk of Fame
- We went to the movies -Social Network
- We went to Kensingtonsmarket - a lot of nice shops
- We saw the Old City Hall
- We went to Eaton Center - very big mall, something all girls love
- Went to Casa Loma
All in all, I walked a lot and my feet need some rest this week!

I passed all my 5 exams so that's really a relief! Unfortunately, I still have a lot of other stuff to do before my finals, but I guess everyone is busy with school and trying to plan fun stuff at the same time, so I won't complain. I actually have class right now (I'm having a small break, so no worries, I am paying attention!). I'll keep u posted!

Fatima

Unfortunately, reading week (week off) is over! School starts tomorrow again. I had a lot of fun this week, went to Montreal with friends which was really nice and fun and did some other fun stuff just to forget about school for a week! Halloween is this weekend, and it's crazy! It's a huge thing in Canada, so evereything is all about halloween halloween halloween. Haha, it nice to see everyone wearing funny outfits and not to mention the volume of pumpkins!
It's getting really cold..! It's actually already snowing...and I think I'm the only one who doesn't like it..everyone is so enthusiastic about it, but in my opinion, it's way to early!
I have a very busy schedule this week, I have a lot of papers and projects due and I need to work ahead for next week, cause I am going to Niagara Falls and Toronto this thursday for a long weekend! I am really excited, and I hope the weather will get a little better!
I am actually in a hurry right now, cause I am meeting up with a friend! I just wanted to keep u posted, and I will tell you more about my trips in my upcoming blog! I promise!

Byeee, xxx

Exam Week is over, so time to write on my blog! I had 5 exams in 1 week, so I was very busy studying..!

So many exams in such a short period of time is absolutely not what I am used to in Tilburg, so that was less fun of course. The lectures are about the same as in Tilburg. The only difference is that I have four 3-hour lectures, which I never have in Tilburg, but I am already getting used to it actually! I can’t complain about my schedule, since I have the Friday off and my lecture at Monday doesn’t start until 7pm. So a long weekend which of course means it is very easy for me to plan a lot of fun stuff in the weekends and still have time to keep up with my school stuff at the same time, which I really do!!

I still love my stay here, it is really fun and I would recommend it to everyone! The people are still as nice as I told all of you in my previous message, and I met so many nice people! It's very easy to completely fill up your agenda, which is obviously a good sign.

I'm going to Montreal this week and maybe make another trip, but I'm still not quite sure about that. Furthermore, I booked a long weekend to Toronto and another one to Montreal (again)! I also booked a trip to New York, where my best friend from the Netherlands is meeting me so I am really looking forward to that of course! I am still figuring out what other places I want to visit so there will probably will be some more places I will go to! All in all, lots of fun!

By the way, I had a great Thanksgiving! It was my first time and a complete success. Two other Dutch girls from Amsterdam and I were invited at one of our floor roomies’ place. It was so kind of her. We went to her cottage and spend the day with her family. The food was very good and we did a lot of fun stuff. Played games, monopoly specifically and I won ha-ha, we went for a hike and made a boat-tour etc. Lovely people, great day!

Halloween is next weekend, so I’ll tell you more about that in my next message!

X Fatima

Hellooooo Everyone!

I am sorry for the huge delay! Classes have already started and I am totally settled in Ottawa! The flight was ok, but very boring! I was actually sleeping the whole time. I spent the first week in a hostel (The Barefoot hostel). It was a nice place to stay at with very nice people and a friendly host! The first week was mainly about arranging stuff for school and discovering the city! Braulio was also staying at the same hostel, so we did most of these things together. The weather was really good (around 30 degrees), so nothing to complain about! However, I had some troubles with my luggage which I didn't get until 2days after arrival, so I was quite annoyed about that.

Then the introduction...nothing compared to the intro in Tilburg (mak-kamp/tik-week). The introduction days here are more serene. We had a campus tour, had dinner together, we went shopping at wal-mart and we also went hiking to discover a little more about the landscape of Canada. I met a lot of other exchange students from all different countries. A lot of swedish people though and just one more person from holland! All in all, they are all very nice!

I got my room on campus 2weeks ago (sept. 4th) and I was really happy about that, cause I really wanted to unpack my suitcase and have some order! Classes started a week ago, I just bought all my books, so unfortunately back to reality haha! These Canadian people love assignments haha. I'm following 5 courses and I think I have like 5 or 6 assignments for each one of them, so I was quite shocked about that!

One of the things I really like is the kindness of the people! Everyone is so friendly, I love it! My host for example was really helping me getting my luggage back. She was calling to the airline company as if she lost her own luggage. If you don't know where to go or you're kind of lost, just ask someone and sometimes they offer to walk with you.

Ok, this is it for today! I'll keep u posted!

xxxx

Fatima